St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® officials and guests today marked the opening of the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children with cancer.
Patients are now being treated at the center using precisely delivered, high-energy particles called protons to kill or shrink tumors while minimizing damage to healthy tissue and organs. For patients with brain tumors and certain other cancers, research suggests proton beam therapy may be more effective than conventional radiation at preventing the growth and spread of tumors while reducing the risk of treatment-related side effects.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7713451-st-jude-proton-therapy-opening/
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is naming the institution’s principal research tower after Donald Pinkel, M.D., whose legacy of driving progress toward advancing cures for pediatric catastrophic diseases continues at the institution today.
When St. Jude was established 55 years ago, Pinkel, the hospital’s first medical director, committed to finding cures for childhood cancer, leading to groundbreaking treatments that saved countless children’s lives. Many of these cancers were deemed incurable prior to Pinkel’s research, but his distinct approach to eradicating diseases established a model for how cancers could be treated.
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/7924752-st-jude-childrens-research-hospital-donald-pinkel-tower/
In an effort to improve outcomes for patients with some of the deadliest childhood cancers, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have created the world’s largest collection of pediatric solid tumor samples, drug-sensitivity data and related information and have made the resource available at no charge to the global scientific community.
St. Jude and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute collaborated to create the resource, known as the Childhood Solid Tumor Network. The work is reported today as an advance online publication in the scientific journal Nature.
“Survival rates for children with recurrent solid tumors have not improved significantly in more than 20 years and remain below 30 percent,” said corresponding author Michael Dyer, Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “This research will change that by promoting scientific collaboration to leverage the efforts of researchers worldwide to advance understanding and ultimately treatment of pediatric solid tumors.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8121952-st-jude-childrens-childhood-solid-tumor-network/
In honor of World Pancreatic Cancer Day on Nov. 16, people around the world will come together to Demand Better in the fight against the world’s toughest cancer, starting with earlier diagnosis. The annual one-day campaign is an initiative of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, which is comprised of more than 60 organizations from 27 countries on six continents.
Every day, more than 1,000 people worldwide will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Of that, an estimated 985 will die from the disease. Additionally, pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate among all major cancers, and in nearly every country, it is the only major cancer with a single-digit five-year survival rate (2-9 percent). These stunning figures are not merely statistics, they represent family members, friends and colleagues on every corner of the globe.
“This year, we are turning World Pancreatic Cancer Day from a day of awareness to a day of action,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition chair. “As we expand our global movement to end pancreatic cancer, we are demanding better for pancreatic cancer patients now and in the future.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8201651-world-pancreatic-cancer-day-demand-better/
